Students play drums in the “Exploring Music” course at Freedom Middle School. PHOTO BY GEREON METHNER

For decades now, music education has been considered an “extracurricular,” “elective,” or “encore” subject in schools. While most principals would agree that music education contributes to student growth as part of a well-rounded, holistic education, music educators often feel that they play second fiddle to their English, math, social studies, and science peers. The focus on state test scores in reading and math further complicates this relationship and can have an impact on professional development resource allocation. Simply put, administrators can feel pressure to focus on the “core” at the expense of non-core classes.

Here at Freedom Middle School in Freedom, WI, a rural, agricultural area between Green Bay and Appleton, we have incorporated music instruction and related professional development into our school, so it is treated the same as the core subjects. We’re a small district with about 1,600 students in grades K–12, 900 of them in a combined middle and high school building.

We are proud of the music courses we offer our middle school students, especially an option called “Exploring Music” for students who don’t want to participate in the traditional band and choir options. As the name implies, the students explore lots of different instruments, including percussion, strings, and keyboards, and they also learn about music culture, history, and theory. The idea is to give students the skills to not only appreciate music in the real world but also to have the musical skills to join our band or choir in high school if they choose.

Music Teachers Make the Secret Sauce

William Brandt, left, and Gereon Methner, review Brandt’s learning intentions and success criteria prior to a lesson. PHOTO BY GEORGE VANSCHYNDEL

Our middle and high school have recently taken on the task of building unit plans aligned to the Wisconsin State Standards, along with adopting what’s known as the Teacher Clarity model of instruction. We strongly believe that teachers in all content areas, including music education, should be involved in this process. One challenge is that assessment and growth in music can be challenging to quantify. This is even more difficult for administrators without a music background.

I (Gereon) was an elective teacher in world languages, and I’m also a music enthusiast. I made it a priority to include elective courses into the planning because I understand just how much they contribute to the overall growth and development of the students. As William puts it: “History has shown that music teachers for the past 150 years in American education have always kind of been wizards. Principals don’t necessarily know what we do, but they know that we do it and we get results. We make the secret sauce.”

We had a lot of conversations about how to apply the Teacher Clarity model in the music setting. The model includes more explicit, written reference to the day’s learning intentions, success criteria, clear expectations, and classroom discussion about those intentions in order to engage the teacher and students more deliberately. We wanted to compare how music students in grades six through eight responded to the model, so they were taught for three weeks with more traditional methods, then three weeks with the Teacher Clarity approach. Afterward, students were surveyed about how they felt about the two approaches.

Students Feel More Successful

The biggest difference is that students felt more successful when the learning intentions and success criteria were used. They didn’t necessarily have better scores on assessments, but their self-efficacy was higher. Basically, they felt better about being in the class. This increased sense of self-confidence is important for musicians. It’s the same as with athletes: If they have self-confidence, and they know what’s going on and why, they are going to perform better. It certainly gives us a lot to think about with the Teacher Clarity model and how it might apply to all content areas.

We strongly believe that teachers in all content areas, including music education, should be involved in this process. One challenge is that assessment and growth in music can be challenging to quantify. 

Music educators are a shining example of multi-tiered support for students: the way they conduct a group, the way they provide individualized instruction, and the way they double down with kids who need more help to prepare for a performance. Regular education teachers can benefit from the contributions of music educators and their understanding of how students learn and grow.

That’s why this project has been so exciting. It brought together a principal and a music instructor to engage regularly in deep conversations about curriculum and instruction in the music setting, which has implications across all subjects. Music educators and other elective teachers can, and should, be included in curriculum and instruction work. Their voice adds to the professional discussion around teaching and learning. In addition to improving instructional outcomes, this work presents a model for music educators and their peers in other subject areas to engage with their principals around mastery of standards.

Gereon Methner, EdD, is the principal of Freedom Middle School in Freedom, WI. William Brandt is a music teacher at Freedom Middle School and the choir director at Freedom High School.